Guardians of Light
by hickorydaisy
Summary: Each year, magic chooses a number of eleven-year-old witches and wizards to protect the world from evil by granting them extra power. Becoming a Guardian is a great honor - and not one Diane Lupin ever thought she'd have. After all, why would magic choose a werewolf as a protector? Cross-posted from Ao3.
1. Chapter 1

Diane Lupin was the probably the most excited young girl on the Platform. Which was completely fair, as for nearly six years of her life she had believed she would be unable to attend due to her… condition.

"You'll write me lots, won't you?" Diane's little brother, Romulus, piped up. Rom was six years old, born only a few months before Diane's… condition formed.

"Of course I will, Rom!" Diane beamed. "Who else would I write to?"

"Be good, Diane," Diane's mother ruffled her hair. "And have fun."

"I will! I promise," Diane began to board the train as she attempted to fix her hair, but she couldn't put hair back in her braid without re-doing the whole thing, and she didn't have time for that. "I'll learn everything I can. I've been given a great opportunity and I won't waste it, no matter what!"

Diane's family waved as she boarded the train fully and she waved back for a moment before turning to go find a seat on the train.

After wandering down the train a ways and seeing no-where empty to sit, Diane was approached by a girl with long blond pigtails, seemingly out of the blue.

"Are you lost? Would you like to sit here with me and my friends? My name's Lorelei, by the way, what's yours?" All of this was said incredibly fast, like if she didn't say it quickly she wouldn't say it at all.

"Lorelei, when I said ask her if she wants to sit with us, I didn't mean 'scare her off'!" a laugh emitted from the compartment behind Lorelei. Looking over Lorelei's shoulder, Diane saw two girls with black hair - one of definitely Indian descent wearing glasses, and a white girl with her hair in a bun. Both were giggling.

"S-sorry!" Lorelei blushed, and Diane smiled.

"Sure, I'd love to sit with you!" she grinned. Just because she made friends didn't mean they had to know about her affliction, right? "My name is Diane Lupin."

Lorelei grinned and scurried to sit back down as Diane walked in and sat down as well - Lorelei next to the girl with glasses, and Diane next to the girl with a bun. The dark-haired girls both grinned at Diane - wide, almost predatory grins.

"So, Miss Lupin, I'm Lizzie Potter, and the one next to you is Juliet Black," the glasses girl chirped as she fixed her glasses so that they were perched in a perfectly jaunty manner across her nose. "It's nice to meet you! Well, probably."

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" Diane recoiled away from Potter, frowning. Had she been tricked? Did they know what she was?

"Nothing!" Potter laughed at the look on Diane's face. "It means nothing except that we can't predict the future, and one day this memory of meeting may become bittersweet."

"Somehow, I don't think Diane thinks your extensional philosophy is very funny, Lizzie," Juliet shook her head. "Try something else."

"Fine," Lizzie pouted. "Sorry, Diane. I really was trying to be funny, but I think that I may have scared you instead."

"That would be an accurate assessment," Diane could feel her eye twitching. Lorelei and Juliet seemed decent enough, but Lizzie seemed unable to read her audience, and as a result, a bit annoying. And yet, her open body language clearly showed her to be a perfectly nice person. How interesting.

"Yeah, Liz," Juliet snarked, "Philosophy isn't funny. Get with the trends, really now!" Juliet waved her hand impatiently through the air, and Diane giggled.

The train ride continued, and the four girls got to know each-other better. Diane learned that Lorelei was worried she was going to flunk every class, Juliet despised her family and would give the world to not be in Slytherin, and that Lizzie was actually funny, but couldn't read her audience worth an earwax-flavored Bertie Bott's.

Of course, with all the sharing and getting to know each-other, Diane still held her secret close to her chest. They couldn't know, one slip up and she'd be sent back home, Headmistress Dumbledore was already taking a huge risk letting her attend in the first place. So as the conversation progressed, Diane kept her words purposely vague and told them very little.

The education of someone like her was technically illegal, after all. If they knew, if they told, she wouldn't be the only one crushed by the scandal.

The train reached the school at about six in the evening, which would allow for every first-year to get in the school and get sorted before the choosing of guardians at about seven-thirty. Diane wasn't concerned with the guardians ceremony. She wouldn't get chosen, after all, not with her condition. But she hoped one of the other girls she had been riding with got it. Juliet in particular seemed like a strong candidate in her eyes.

After boating and shuffling and speeches, they were finally lead into the Great Hall, and the Sorting Ceremony began. After a student was sorted, they all stood in a perfect line to wait for the Guardians Ceremony.

Diane couldn't help but to shuffle her feet nervously as the Sorting began. What if the Hat wouldn't sort her? What if it just opened it's rip of a mouth and told the whole room what she was?

"Black, Juliet!" was the first name called that Diane recognized. To her delight, and Juliet's obvious relief, the hat yelled out "Gryffindor!" almost the moment she sat down.

"Evans, Lilybeth!" was sorted into Gryffindor, Diane noted somewhere in the back of her mind. She didn't know the vast majority of the people here, and as a result didn't care where they ended up.

Finally, after what felt like ages to Diane, Professor Thoth McGonagall, a severe and intimidating man, called out "Lupin, Diane!" and she moved up to put on the Hat.

The Hat seemed to hum as it sat on her head, like it was thinking, thinking deeply. Diane swore she'd never felt so nervous in all her life. She gripped her sleeves in her hands. The silence seemed to stretch on forever. Finally, the hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!" before promptly falling silent again.

Diane smiled as she got up and took her place in the inward-facing lineup for the Choosing of Guardians. She'd passed the first hurdle. Sure, there were more hurdles to come, but that was hardly the point, and besides, if she handled them one at a time, none of them would seem that big!

The sorting continued on, but only three people really stood out to Diane. The other two girls from the train both became Gryffindors, and an interesting-looking girl with a short black bob announced as "Snape, Vera!" who was sorted into Slytherin.

After the Sorting finished, Professor McGonagall stood in front of them again and gave another speech.

"Every year, magic itself selects a number of eleven-year-olds born of magic to protect this world from harm. Now, magic is preparing to select more, and you are now eleven. May the future Guardians be blessed and the rest of you also find success in improving our world in your own way." He smiled, and it almost looked sad.

Suddenly, a glow emanated from the ceiling and six tendrils of light spun downward around each other, causing a collective gasp from the hall. Six? Usually there were only one or two Guardians chosen per year at Hogwarts. What on earth could this increase mean?

Diane, for her part, felt mesmerized by the light. No, it wasn't light - it was pure magic, meant only for those who could best protect the interests of wizards and witches everywhere. The tendrils neared the floor and stopped twirling around each other and leveled out, speeding towards the line of students. One of them almost looked like it was heading for Diane, but that was impossible.

Except sometimes the impossible is indeed possible, for one of the tendrils slammed into Diane's chest and knocked the air of her lungs as the world seemed to turn golden for a moment. Then, as quickly as the sensation came, it faded away.

Diane stared blankly ahead of her, feeling a heavy weight clutched in her hand. It seemed like forever before she managed to gather the courage to look down and see what the weight was. To her complete disbelief and mounting adoration, it was her wand, transformed into a Guardian's staff. Her staff was a glistening gold, headed by a wonderful and unrealistically large round ruby. As Diane kept looking at herself, she noticed her outfit.

Now, every Guardian had an outfit that was connected to the power magic had gifted them. The outfit was what allowed them to access this extra power, because the human body could only handle so much magic. This circumvention tool was also highly connected to the Guardian's personality, so every one looked different and changed as the Guardian who wore it aged and changed.

Diane's outfit was a red knee-length dress with long, drooping sleeves and golden trim, with boots to match. And underneath, she was also wearing a pair of golden tights. It was beautiful - and nothing she had ever believed she would get a chance to wear.

A few minutes passed, and Diane spent them twirling and attempting to get a better look at herself. She was only really broken out of this hypnotic activity when Professor McGonagall announced they ought to sit down for the feast now, and the new Guardians would come see him in his office after the feast.

Summoned to a Professor's office already? Even for such a benign reason - did McGonagall know? Would she tell the other Guardians? Diane reached up and began playing with her braid as she walked to her seat.


	2. Chapter 2

Juliet Black was on cloud _eleven_ , she was so happy. Not only had she not been sorted into Slytherin (she was a _Gryffindor!_ Take that, Father!), but she was a _Guardian_ , which meant it would be social suicide for her family to try and get her re-sorted. Unless Father was more unhinged than she thought, she was certainly safe.

So far, her fellow Guardians seemed to be wonderful people. She'd met Diane, Lorelei, and Lizzie on the train, and aside from Lizzie's terrible audience-reading skills, they all seemed really nice. Well, Diane obviously had a dark secret, no-one was naturally that likely to deflect any and all questions about their personal life, but whatever Diane was hiding, Juliet was certain it had nothing to do with how nice she was. It was probably something like a scar, given how fully her Guardian outfit had covered her body. Probably nothing big.

Now, about the other two, Lilybeth Evans and Vera Snape… Honestly, Juliet wasn't sure how to feel about them. They clearly knew each-other, for one thing, and for another, Snape was a _Slytherin_. Juliet had wanted to distance herself from all things Slytherin once she got to Hogwarts, but clearly that wasn't an option anymore. If she was honest, she a little bit resented Snape for that, but didn't want to hate her teammate for the next seven years. That would be more than a little bit of a pain.

Still… those two… she just didn't know how to feel…

Well, she supposed she would get to meet them when she actually figured out how to get to Professor McGonagall's office, but this school was… confusingly laid out, and it moved around, which made it even harder to figure out where the heck she was going. She was trying to find the Professor's office in a group with the same girls she had rode on the train with, but they only seemed to be getting more lost.

"What floor are we even on?" Lorelei whined, still in her Guardian outfit.

They all were, for two reasons. One, a little bit to show off, although maybe not in Diane's case. Two, none of them actually knew how to switch back to their normal outfits yet, so they were a little stuck.

Juliet's consisted of a jaunty-looking muggle sundress in red, based off the only sightings of muggles she'd ever really had. Over it, she had a gauzy layer of translucent golden fabric draping over her shoulders and reaching down to her elbows. It was beautiful and delicate, in a way Juliet had never felt when she was trying to survive her home life.

Lorelei's outfit was of a simple, more muggle design. It featured a red tunic-like top over a pair of red pants, with a mostly decorative golden belt over top of the tunic at her waist. To Juliet, it seemed like an inspired, although unconscious, choice.

Lizzie's outfit seemed a bit confused, really. She wore a red dress with gold filigree, like Diane, but unlike Diane's it was longer in the back than in the front. In the front, it only went half-way down Lizzie's thighs, but in the back it dragged along the floor. And that wasn't the only asymmetrical detail either - Lizzie's left shoe was barely more than a house slipper, while the right shoe was a knee-high boot like Diane's. And the sleeves - the right one was off the shoulder and short, the left was long and ended in rows of detailed ruffles. It was a mess. Hopefully, that would change as Lizzie got older.

What was she thinking? Of course it would change as Lizzie got older. Guardian outfits were a reflection of the Guardian, after all.

"Hey!" Lorelei seemed annoyed. "I said, what floor are we even on?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Diane looked completely flustered. "I wasn't paying attention! And to answer your question…" she took a moment and looked around. "I have no idea."

Suddenly, a door opened a little further down the hallway, causing the four girls to jump. Lizzie swung her staff out in front of her like she was going to blast whoever had opened the door, even though she didn't actually know any magic yet. Diane, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to hide behind her staff, although it was considerably smaller than her person and therefore unlikely to effectively protect her.

But the only thing behind the door was Professor McGonagall, looking thoroughly miffed. "There you girls are," he sniffed. "I was beginning to think you had gotten lost."

"Uh… we did," Lizzie said. Juliet could hardly believe how outspoken Lizzie was being to an adult's face! The trick to getting away with tricks was to act rather demur to the target's face, always. Even if it almost never worked, because Father would still blame her even if there was no proof. But that was hardly the point, here with a fresh new start. Here where she was a Guardian first and foremost. No-one would suspect her if she pulled a trick here.

Of course, none of that mattered at the moment, with McGonagall… simply sighing? And telling them to step into his office? What was happening?

Well, now they were all in Professor McGonagall's office, which had been the goal, and Evans and Snape were already there. They looked nice in their Guardian outfits, Juliet supposed, or at least more coordinated than Lizzie. Evans wore what looked to be a red-and-gold uniform-ish looking thing, probably muggle in design. Snape, however, was wearing a green top that appeared to be tied together in the front, a matching pair of green breeches, and silver knee-high boots with green laces that appeared to be designed to face a great deal of action. Interesting…

"Now," Professor McGonagall closed the door behind them all once they were all safely situated inside his office. "Let's discuss your status as Guardians, and what it means both for you, and for the rest of your classmates."


	3. Chapter 3

Diane held on to every word of McGonagall's speech. Afterwards, she wouldn't remember any of it, but right now… right now she needed to know that McGonagall wouldn't say anything about her… well, condition. That was not the first impression she wanted to make. Instead, she fained calmness and listened close to the speech.

Looking back, she thinks it was some generic speech about the responsibilities of a Guardian, and how Hogwarts planned to help train the new Guardians for helping out the entire magical world.

Diane had never really believed Guardians to be on her side before. Guardians in the past had enacted strict anti-werewolf legislation, making them the enemy. If she wasn't one of them, Diane would have spent all of her years avoiding Guardians. They were a reflection, a premonition of the wizarding world of the near future - a self-fulfilling prophecy. But where did a young wolf-girl fit into that?

McGonagall wrapped up his speech with a reminder that while they were Guardians, that did not mean they would special treatment on their schoolwork. There had been no mention of lycanthropy, much less how it may or may not have applied to people in the room.

"Any questions?" McGonagall asked, peering at the lot of them.

"Uh, yeah," said Lizzie, swinging a sizeable box onto the table. "I have one. Do you mind if I share these?"

The box contained a number of hair pieces, all of an unappealing and lifeless gray, yet nearly pulsating with magic.

"Charmed hair pieces?" Juliet blinked. "For all of us?"

"Yeah!" Lizzie beamed. "I brought a lot of them… I was just going to share with my roommates, but since we're all Guardians I thought this would look better… we'll be a matching set!"

"What kind of charm is on them?" Juliet inquired, "It feels powerful."

"A physic color-changing charm," Lizzie said, "So that they are always the color the wearer wants them to be!"

The room was still, except for Lizzie's palpable excitement. "Well?" Lizzie continued, "Don't you want them?" She took one out and put it in her own hair, over top of her ponytail-holder. After a moment, the piece turned red and gold.

"Are you certain we can have these?" Juliet looked hopeful, but incredibly nervous. Diane was nearly certain her face looked about the same. It was… interesting, to have someone offer you something so expensive-looking. Diane, at least, was certain the offer would be off the table if Lizzie knew what she really was.

But Lizzie just beamed and said, "Of course!" back to Juliet, who then picked out a piece that matched Lizzie's, which she affixed to one side of her bun. After a moment, it too flared red and gold.

Hesitantly, Diane, Lorelei, and the Snape girl - Vera, wasn't it? - reached into the box also. Lorelei grabbed two pieces which matched Lizzie's, adding them to the tops of her pigtails. Diane played it safe and chose a simple ribbon, which she tied around the base of her brain. Both went red and gold after but a moment. Vera, though - Vera pulled out four barrettes, which she snapped onto the sides of her bob-cut hair, two on each side, both pairs crossing over each-other. After a moment, they turned green and silver.

Now, the only one left was Lilybeth, who didn't seem likely to choose a hairpiece anytime soon. "I hardly have hair for such a thing!" he pointed out to Lizzie, who paid him no mind and pulled out a ribbon, which she then tied around his wrist.

"There. Now you match us too, and you don't have to grow your hair out for it!" she smiled at the lone male in the group proper.

"Thank you," he replied, sounding a little strangled, at least to Diane. What on Earth did that mean?

"If you're done playing with your hair -" McGonagall began before he was cut off by Lizzie, who whirled around so quickly even Diane hardly saw her move, and her eyesight was heightened by her, um, condition.

"Playing with our hair? Professor! I thought you wanted us to bond together as a team, since we'll be working together as Guardians for at least the next seven years! Isn't that what you said in your speech just now, Professor?"

"Well, yes, but -"

"Then don't you _want_ me to share my hair things? They make for an excellent show of camaraderie!"

"Miss Potter, if you would please -"

"I just don't understand why you have such double standards like that! It simply isn't fair, Professor!" Lizzie made a pitiful face and her eyes began to water. It was pretty clearly fake, albeit a good fake, and everyone else in the room began to snicker at McGonagall's increasingly flustered face.

"Alright, enough!" McGonagall was apparently done with Lizzie, as he asserted himself as the adult in the room once more. "If you children would please desist in this tomfoolery, and go to your dorms. The Gryffindor password is 'Protest,' the Slytherin password is 'Retribution.' Report back here on Saturday and you'll have your first assignment as Guardians. Understand?"

Mostly, the group nodded. Lizzie made a big show of rolling her eyes, but it was not… without a modicum of respect, Diane supposed. Lizzie, clearly, thought a bit much of herself. McGonagall chose to ignore her for the time being.

"Good," he said. "Now go."

Vera split off from the rest of the group the moment they stepped outside. She gave Lilybeth a hug and then turned to leave. Lilybeth sent her off with a "See you tomorrow, Vera!" but no-one else said anything. Quite frankly, they didn't know her well enough yet.

The rest of them wondered around a bit until they finally made it up to Gryffindor tower, which had for a door a portrait of a very fat middle-aged man. The portrait man raised an eyebrow at them and said, "Password?"

"Protest," Lizzie was the first to reply. Diane got the feeling Lizzie was more than a little impulsive, but she seemed fun, if nothing else.

The portrait-door swung open, and the quintet clambered inside, entering for the first time their common room.

The room was about the size of a child's playroom, in other words, about twice the size of a standard living room or parlor. There was a fireplace at one end, surrounded by a semi-circle of large overstuffed armchairs in bright red. The rest of the room consisted mostly of little tables with more armchairs around them, but around the walls were a series of loveseats and sofas, in the same red as the armchairs. Crammed between two of the sofas was a small, mostly empty bookcase. Windows ringed the room. The floor was a plush carpet, also in red. There were a couple of portraits, one of a lion and another of possibly Godric Gryffindor.

There Lilybeth peeled off and headed for the boys dorms, while Diane and the others made their way to their own dorm. The dorm was fairly decent sized, and their things had already brought up by house-elves. Each bed stuck out from the wall in such a way that Diane felt as though if the room where to be compressed, the beds would fit together like a zipper.

Each girl's personal space consisted of one bright red four-poster bed, one night-stand, and a small dresser on the opposite side of the bed as the night-stand. Each night-stand had an oil lamp on it, which either made the room look sophisticated or highly outdated. At the end of each bed was each girl's trunk. At the far end of the room was a grandfather clock, which could be charmed to only ring at certain hours, but currently rang every hour from 8 till 8.

While there was a lot of unpacking that needed to be done, they all seemed to agree that it could be done tomorrow. It was already late, and they were quite tired. Diane was the last one to change and the last one to go to bed. She was afraid of what they would say if they saw her scars.

 _ **AN: So... this is actually chapter 4 on Ao3, because Chapter 3 is a picture of Juliet. You aren't missing anything story-wise, but you are missing out on visuals. Come find me on Ao3 to see visuals and so forth!**_

Would they know what she was? Would they hate her?


	4. Chapter 4

The first week (or really, half week) of school flew by so quickly that the days seemed like one big blur. Vera felt this way more than any other student in the school, perhaps because classes always have a tendency to blur, and Vera's only proper friend was in Gryffindor, so they weren't able to socialize much, but Vera was completely uninterested in making any more.

If anyone asked, which they probably wouldn't, Vera would be the first to admit that she had trust issues. Lots of them. People were generally unkind, at least to her. She knew that humans had the capacity for kindness, but they never seemed to show it. No-one ever really showed her kindness, except for Lilybeth.

And oddly, the Potter girl, that first night. Vera wasn't sure what to make of Potter, to tell the unvarnished truth. She was, in many ways, a mystery, especially with that _outfit_. Yeesh. But the hair barrettes were a kindness. _A_ kindness. And kindness… sometimes it can be false.

Her housemates were "kind" to her, but it was only because she was a Guardian, and everyone wanted to be friends with a Guardian. Their kindness was false.

The teachers were "kind" to her, but they were required to act kind to all their students. Their kindness was false.

Back home, people had been kind to her, tried to save her from her father, but only so they could be the hero, not so she could be free. That kindness had been so, so false.

Vera wasn't sure what game Potter was playing at, if she had a game, but if it was false, Vera couldn't risk it. No, it was better to push people away and pretend it doesn't bother her.

It's hard to be disappointed when you don't expect anything.

Well, regardless of Potter's game, the week did pass, and it was now Saturday, so Vera made her way to the Deputy Headmaster's office to meet with her fellow Guardians. She felt… nervous was close, but not quite the right word. Resigned?

When Vera entered the room, she discovered that she was the last one there. Potter was attempting to engage Black in a conversation about something or other that clearly, the later girl was convinced would get them both into a world of hurt. Lupin was keeping to herself, hiding her face behind her copy of their transfiguration textbook. Lilybeth was chatting amicably with Pettigrew about things that didn't quite make sense in the Wizarding World.

Vera went to sit with Lilybeth and Pettigrew, where Lilybeth gave her a polite nod but otherwise simply continued to converse with Pettigrew. They were on about how little sense some wizarding laws made, with Lilybeth talking about how he'd read that it didn't really affect kids with wizard families, and Pettigrew nodding along, clearly out of her depth.

The door flew open quite suddenly, with McGonagall striding in. He fixed them all with a look so striking that all conversation ceased and Lupin put her book down. There was an expectant moment of silence.

"As first year Guardians, you are hardly expected to save the school or curb the dangerous populations in the forbidden forest. However, you must come to understand and harness your powers somehow. Which is why you will be patrolling the school today, and every Saturday for the rest of the year. Don't get lost. Solve any and all problems you encounter. Good luck. Off you go!" He then ushered them out of his office. "I have enough work to do as it is, without having to micromanage you, so don't make me have to."

The sextet looked at each other for about a minute before Lupin finally said, "So… should we change and get going?"

"Change is such a boring word, Diane!" Potter whined. "We're transforming!"

Lupin gave Potter a look that telegraphed that she thought Potter was being stupid (fair) but didn't say anything (also fair). Then the whole group changed into their Guardian outfits.

Vera found that she agreed with Lupin. While the bright flashy sequence where the Guardian Outfit materialized was called a "Transformation Sequence" they hadn't exactly transformed into something else. They were still themselves, but shinier.

Vera thought her outfit was symbolic of her determination to free herself from the grasp of her mother, her unending militant ambition. Lilybeth clearly shared that ambition, looking like the royal guard as she did. Black's outfit made her seem innocent, almost delicate. Pettigrew's looked practical. Lupin's looked like she was trying to hide something. Potter… well, Potter's outfit was just a mess.

Following the obligatory "Transformation," the group set off into the castle, supposedly to patrol it, but Vera was certain that's what the Prefects were for. She wondered a bit as to what they were really doing, but ultimately she decided it didn't really matter. They were just supposed to spend time together, as a team. And possibly familiarize themselves with the castle.

Vera didn't really know any of the Gryffindor girls, but since there were more Gryffindors, the group decided to start their "patrol" up near Gryffindor tower. Vera wasn't sure how to feel about that, other than possibly "highly outnumbered."

"Okay, so… we're lost, right?"

"Shut up Snape, no we aren't!"

"It's been an hour since we left McGonagall's, and yet this is clearly not Gryffindor tower," Vera rolled her eyes at the furiously red Potter, who was glowing with either rage or shame. Possibly both.

"That's hardly my fault, and I know exactly where we are!" Potter glared.

"Oh? Than whose fault is it, and where are we?"

"It's clearly Juliet's fault!"

"HEY!" Black yelped, suddenly quite loud, "That's not fair! You were the one who charged ahead even though the stairs were changing! We just followed you!"

"Black speaks the truth," Vera raised an eyebrow at Potter, "So it is your fault."

"Sh-shut up!"

"And we are lost, aren't we?"

"No!"

"Then where are we?"

"We're, uh, we're… at Hogwarts!"

"...Bravo for that brilliant deduction, Potter."

A snort of laughter came from behind Vera, who turned to look. To her surprise, it was Lupin, leaning on her staff and trying to hold in further laughter.

"I'm sorry," Lupin said with another snort, "But are you always quite so full of venom? It's rather amazing."

"Yes," Vera shot back.

"Diane…" Potter began to whine. "We're supposed to stick together, since we're all Gryffindors!"

"That's rich, coming from you!" Black burst out, "You just were throwing me under the Knight Bus!"

"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH!"

Everyone turned to look at the source of the shout, which was (rather surprisingly), Pettigrew. She suddenly looked rather sheepish at all the attention.

"Sorry," she said, "But, well, assigning blame doesn't get us any less lost, even if it is Lizzie's fault." Potter began to look much, much more red in color, and also somewhat indignant, but Pettigrew continued. "We ought to start back-tracking, maybe we can get ourselves un-lost."

"An excellent idea, Pettigrew," Vera nodded in Pettigrew's direction, then turned towards Potter. "See, Potter, even other Gryffindors are more capable than you."

As Vera turned and marched away, she heard Potter say in reply: "Diane was right. You are full of venom. You're venomous! Venomous, you are!"

Venomous, was she? She could roll with that.

The following day, Vera didn't have much of anything to do. She had done her homework (it was the first week of school, there wasn't very much), and didn't really want to spend the day either in her dorm or in the Slytherin common room. The dorm, alone, sounded pitiful, and she didn't really know her fellow Slytherins well enough yet to feel comfortable sitting in the common room. This left her with only a few options.

Option One: Go Outside. No. Merlin no. There were these things called insects that lived outside, and she hated them. She would not go outside unless it was literally freezing out.

On a slight tangent, she hoped she could keep the measurements straight here at Hogwarts. Her parents used different types of measurements for everything - distance, temperature, weight, everything. The wizarding world only used the ones her father used, so she'd have to be careful not to slip up. That would be confusing, for one, and for another, it would expose her muggle heritage, which was not a thing that needed to happen if she could help it.

Option Two: Go to the Library. Well, that was an option, if not a very inviting one. While she loved books, the idea of sitting and reading them in the library instead of borrowing them from said library was… unappealing at best. It gave off an impression of an overly studious person, rather than a person who enjoyed a good novel. But it was a better option than outside.

Option Three: Seek Out Lilybeth and/or the Other Gryffindor Guardians. Well, that was certainly an option. Vera liked Lilybeth quite a fair bit, and spending time with her was always fun, but those other Gyrffindors… well, they seemed a bit full of themselves. They seemed like they had already decided they weren't going to like her before speaking to her, because of the colors she wore. Or maybe that was just Black and Potter. Maybe even just Black. Potter had given her these barrettes.

Vera reached up and brushed her fingertips against the tiny little hairpieces. They were smooth to the touch, and a bit cool. They made her think, just for a minute or two, that maybe she could make another friend. But they were just lifeless bits of magic and ivory. She would have to seek out the person who gave them to her, make that connection on her own.

Well, she supposed that meant she was going with option three then.

Vera stood up with a bit of a flourish, and dusted off her clothes before exiting the Slytherin Common Room.


End file.
